Keeper of the Dark
by SleepyLyra
Summary: Adrian Amante is one of eighteen Keepers, the dark-type Keeper, sworn to protect Pokémon. When her world is turned upside down by an invasion of her sleepy town, she escapes and is on a quest to find the other Keepers. Who are these strangers that set her content life crashing down and where, or even who for that matter, are the other Keepers?
1. Beginning of the Fall

" Human Speaking "

_' Thoughts/Telepathy '_

**" Pokémon Speech "**

* * *

All he ever did was waddle around the room and lecture me. His bulky frame swayed rigidly side to side as he continued to waddle. I mean, seriously. What does he think he is, a Delibird?

"I told you never to go into the forest or even near Mt. Coronet, Adrian Amante!" The bulky man, who happened to be my teacher, scolded me, even going as far to use both my first and last name, "You know how dangerous it is! What if you got hurt? What if we lost the dark Keeper?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Beaston. It won't ever happen again." The words dripped out of my mouth, coated thick with irritation. I received a glare in response. "Look, you should stop being so worried about me. I may be a Keeper and I may not have a Pokémon, but I can communicate with dark-type Pokémon and ask them for help if I need it. That should be good enough for you." Excusing myself without giving him a chance to respond, I quickly walk out of the room and out of the school building. Outside, I breathed in the fresh air. I was glad to get out of that stuffy classroom.

_'He'll probably be out here any minute to lecture me again, so I better get out of here before that happens.'_ I thought to myself, making a Beedrill-line for the forest a mile or so away from the small town.

I live in a small town only a couple of miles away from Mt. Coronet and – I can't help myself – I always go exploring into the Mt. Coronet's neighboring forest. The only problem is that the townspeople that don't have a hard time approaching me are extremely overprotective of me. It's all because I'm a Keeper. The dark-type Keeper, to be exact. How that's so special, I'll never understand. All I know is that I bare a resemblance to dark-types in both my appearance and personality and that I can freely communicate with and understand dark-type Pokémon, but not any others. Mr. Beaston is constantly drilling that fact into my mind, to remind me that I must always be cautious. He's kind of a hard-ass, but he's like a father to me. He's not only my teacher, but my guardian as well, since I lack parents, and has taken care of me since I was a baby. I love him like he really was my father, but he can get on my nerves with the whole 'Keeper' thing. I'm not really that special, am I?

With these thoughts tormenting my mind once more, I trekked deeper into the forest, not ever wanting to head back to that suffocating town. After a quick trot through the towering trees, I finally made it to my favorite hiding spot (and yes, I do have more than one, mind you). It was a big, green clearing full of flowers of every shape and color with a creek in the middle. I headed towards the water and examined my reflection. I guess I could understand how I resembled a dark-type.

My long, curly hair – that was currently up in a braid that reached my waist – was pitch black, like a night with no moon or stars. My skin was a dark tan and my eyes were a dark gray, almost black. I was a five foot three fourteen-year-old girl with an athletic build, earned by constantly running away from town and exploring the damp forest.

I tore my eyes away from my reflection and looked up past the trees toward the looming mountain above me. To be honest, I never had the courage to enter or climb the mountain because of the eerie feeling it gave me.

Suddenly, rustling came from the bushes in front of me, on the other side of the creek. Something was there, but I didn't know what. Then a flash and a gust of wind flew past me and… Did I feel fur? The force knocked me to the ground hard and I laid there, stunned.

**"People are coming. People are coming. They bring fire. Disaster. Fire. Fire."** Bringing me back to reality was a shrieking, panic-filled chant. I rolled over on my stomach and looked up to see what appeared to be a much panicked Pokémon. _'It must be a dark-type if I can understand what it's saying.'_ I concluded, _'But what's this nonsense coming out of its mouth? Disaster? What disaster?'_

The panicked Pokémon didn't even seem to sense my presence as it sniffed the air, seeming like it was trying to find something. The creature was feline-like, with snow white fur and sharp, black claws on each paw and a black scythe protruding from its head. I had spent my whole childhood learning about every dark-type Pokémon in existence, so I was quickly able to identify the feline creature as an Absol.

Then, without even so much as a warning, it took off, racing through the dark forest, in the direction of the sleepy town I come from. My face paled as I realized what was going on. Absol, the Pokémon who can predict future disasters, was coming to my town to forewarn it. I quickly jumped to my feet, dusted off the dirt, and sprinted through the trees after the Absol. I was deep in the forest and the sun was starting to set, causing the forest to become even darker than usual. Finding it hard to find my way, I was constantly stumbling and scraping my skin on twigs and branches. Tunnel vision started to form as I raced faster, causing my panic to swell up.

Leaves and branches flew and scattered in all directions as I finally broke through the tree line. Out of breath, I placed my hands on my knees and bent down to recollect myself. I looked up and whatever breath I had left was whisked out of me. Smell of smoke. Red. Giant pools of red flames danced in and out of the small, sleepy town and licked up towards the sky, like a ritual summoning chaos. It felt like my heart halted and my brain couldn't comprehend what was happening right in front of me. All I could do was race into the town as fast as I could in a desperate search for someone; anyone. The schoolhouse I had gotten lectured at not even two hours prior looked menacing coated in a death bringing red and about to collapse any minute.

Racing inside the school, I yelled for Mr. Beaston. "Mr. Beaston! Beaston!" I frantically ran through the halls, not caring about the smoke or fire, until I came to his classroom. Underneath a beam that had collapsed and fallen to the ground was Mr. Beaston himself, knocked out. "Mr. Beaston!" I cried as I ran over and knelt down next to him. Shaking him gently, he finally came to with little more than a pain-filled groan. "Mr. Beaston! Are you alright? We need to get this beam off of you!" I said, relieved he came to. I got up and positioned myself so I could push the beam off.

"Adrian, don't bother. You need to listen to me this once." Mr. Beaston croaked before winding up into a coughing fit. When it subsided, he looked up at me, exhausted, and started to speak with a scratchy, quiet voice, "This fire was no accident. The town was set on fire on purpose. The people who caused the fire came here for you, Adrian. You must get out of here and find the other Keepers."

I looked down at him, stunned at what he said. "On purpose? They want me? What are you talking about?" I shrieked. This didn't make any sense. A loud crack was heard and then a booming crash as more beams started to collapse one by one. "Get out of here!" Mr. Beaston croaked as loudly as he could over another booming crash. I hesitated. I couldn't just leave him there, could I? He looked up at me, his eyes pleading – practically begging for me to go – and I knew what I had to do.

"I'm sorry." I apologized and headed towards the door. Looking back one last time, I noticed he almost looked … happy. Then another booming crash rained down as several support beams fell, blocking off my view and causing the roof to collapse all around me. _'I have to get out, now!'_ I frantically sped down the hallways and made my way through the entrance to the school. I turned around to be greeted by the roof collapsing were I had stood only moments before.

Screaming in the distance caused me to whip my head around to where the rest of the majority of the town lay. Unknown people in identical clothing were walking through the town. _'Are those the people Beaston mentioned?'_ I wondered, quietly running back towards the woods. Once I was past the tree line, I looked back one more time at the town. Most of the buildings had completely collapsed by now and the townspeople were being filed one by one by the strangers in a field nearby that was yet to be danced upon by the red flames.

Suddenly a pained howl tore through the trees.

_'What in the hell?'_ I looked over in the direction the howl had come from.

More cries. It sounded like there was more than one creature making those noises.

I crept towards the direction the cries were coming from, doing my best not to make any noises and stay in the shadows. When I had finally reached the source of those cries, I could instantly figure out what was going on. The Absol from before was collapsed on the ground and trying to get up, the snow-white fur on it left side stained a crimson red from its own blood. A strange man wearing the same identical clothing like the strangers who had caused the fire stood only a few feet away. A Weavile, who I believed belonged to the man, loomed over the Absol, a smug looked displayed on its face.

"Good work, Weavile! Thanks to you, this Absol didn't make it in time to warn the town. Unfortunately, it put up a tiring and long fight." The man grunted darkly, "Now finish it off."

The Weavile looked back at its trainer and nodded. It raised its already bloodied left claws, getting ready to strike.

_'I can't let this happen!'_ I was alarmed and astonished this man would do such a thing, so I just had to end this.

"No, stop!" I screeched, jumping out of the undergrowth and catching both the man and the Weavile off guard. I pushed the Weavile over and stood as a barricade between the Absol and the Weavile. _'I'm going to get myself killed doing this, I just know it, but what else can I do?'_

Both the man and Weavile looked pissed. The Weavile looked straight up at me and growled, its red eyes giving me a look that almost guaranteed death. "What is this nonsense?" The man yelled, furious, "Dispose of this vermin, Weavile!"

The Weavile looked happy to oblige and ran at me. I felt paralyzed and helpless. I couldn't do anything except for think about how I wish this wasn't happening. All I thought at that moment was, _'STOP.'_

And that's just what it did. All of a sudden, the Weavile halted in its tracks, looking confused, possibly even delirious. "Weavile?! What's wrong with you? I told you to get rid of the girl!" The man raged about, mad that things were taking an unexpected turn.

I was just as confused as the Weavile was. _'Why did it stop? Last time I checked, I certainly can't command Pokémon.'_ I thought to myself. Looking around for a good minute before its eyes finally landed on me, the Weavile questioned, **"Was that you who spoke?" **

_'Huh? Did I speak out loud?'_ Before I could speak my question or the Weavile could recover from its stunned state, the Absol took its chance and rushed past me in a blur of snow, its scythe lighting up in a blinding white light. It slashed the Weavile, sending it flying with a strong hit and knocking it out. Then it set its sights on the dark man. The man had lost all the rage that had built up inside him and looked very frightened. He quickly returned Weavile to his Pokéball and scurried off, a razor wind from a weakened Absol barely missing him. When he was out of sight, the Absol finally allowed itself to give in and collapse.

I ran over to the Absol, worried that the worst might have happened. She was alright, though, beside the fact that she had terrible claw wounds down her side. Noticing that her breathing was shallow and I didn't have much more time before she died of blood loss; I lifted both of my hands over the Absol's side and concentrated. After a few seconds, my hands faintly glowed a dull gray and soon the Absol's side did as well. The deep wounds started to close, forming ugly scars. Healing dark-type Pokémon is another thing I can do, but only flesh wounds or status effects can be healed. Nothing inside the body (like a broken bone), a mental problem, or anything that's not a dark-type can be healed by me.

However, the Absol still did not stir from the depths of slumber. I had to get it somewhere safe, though, before the strangers came back to get us. I tried my best to pick up the heavy feline and moved deeper into the forest, half carrying, half dragging the Absol.

I had to get to safety.

* * *

_This is my first story on here. It's been a long time - several years - since I've written a story, so I'm a bit rusty. Sorry about that, haha!_

_This story felt like it was detached from the characters emotions and like it was too fast for me. I always feel like that when I write a story, though. Hopefully, I'll get better and this story will too as it goes on._

_**And just to clear something up, Absol's are only able to sense natural disasters. This one isn't natural, but the Absol could see the invasion coming from Mt. Coronet and its instincts made it take it upon itself to warn the town._


	2. Sticking Together

" Human Speaking "

_' Thoughts/Telepathy '_

**" Pokémon Speech "**

* * *

Finally feeling satisfied with the place we were hiding in, I gently set the Absol down on the ground and collapsed next to it. We were hiding deep inside the forest neighboring the looming mountain the region knows as Mt. Coronet. I had discovered a small tree hollow at the base of a towering tree, hidden by the thick undergrowth in the damp forest. It was just big enough for both Absol and I to squeeze through. _'This is about as safe as we're going to get for tonight.'_ I concluded, exhausted from carrying the Absol through the forest for what felt like a good mile or two.

I rolled over onto my side so I could see the Absol. She seemed a lot more peaceful now, with her wound healed. Her breathing had become more stable, but I was upset that her beautiful fur had been stained red from blood. _'That's the least of my worries right now, but I can't help it.' _I thought sleepily. I was exhausted to the bone, but paranoia was keeping me up. What if they found us? It seemed unlikely, but that question continued to haunt me relentlessly.

Keeping myself occupied by focusing on the Absol's breathing, I slowly began to relax. Soon enough, my breathing matched the pace of the Absol's breathing, and I found myself being taken over by darkness.

* * *

I woke up, blinded by the morning sun peeking through the tree hollow. When my vision had adjusted and keeping my eyes open was less painful, I looked around at my surroundings. The Absol from last night was nowhere in sight. _'Oh, good! Maybe it was all just a dream? I must have fallen asleep in the forest and had a bad dream! Yeah, that's all.' _I concluded naively, wishing for the best.

My wishes soon crumbled to the ground and my heart fell into my stomach not long after I had climbed my way out of the tree hollow. Sitting right outside the hollow was none other than the same Absol from last night. She was doing her best to clean the blood off of the fur on her left side, but to no avail. "So, basically everything last night was not a bad dream. Well, that sucks." I sighed, feeling exhausted all over again.

**"Of course last night wasn't a dream. These scars tell me so."** The Absol stated matter-of-factly, not even bothering to look at me, **"It's strange how they scarred so quickly, though. I don't even have an infection, yet it has been a day since I received the wound."**

"That's because I healed you." I responded to her confusion, "I have the power to heal dark-type Pokémon, since I'm a dark-type Keeper. That's also why I can understand you."

She whipped her head over to look at me, looking surprised that I could so easily understand her, and even more when she realized it was me who had healed her. I couldn't help but give a satisfied smirk at her confusion.

"Anyways, I should probably get out of this forest. If those men that invaded my town really were after me, they'll probably search the forest as well." I predicted, looking around at the forest around me. It may have been a bright early morning, but fog had lifted around the bases of the dark trees, giving the damp forest an eerie, almost haunted, look about it. "Too bad I have no clue where I am or where to go."

**"The fire-bringing men? They were after you?"** The Absol questioned, **"Why would that be?"**

"I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because I'm the dark-type Keeper. Beaston told me to find the other seventeen Keepers, but I don't have a clue as to where or even who they are." I confessed, "They'll probably come after you, too. I protected you, so they'll probably believe we're connected somehow and that you can give them answers as to where I am."

I received a deadly look in return. **"I appreciate the help and all, but did you really have to go and get me involved in all this?"**

"It was either this or death." I reminded her, shrugging, "Why don't you just come with me? It'll be better for both of us. Plus, I could really use some help getting out of this forest."

The Absol simply laughed, then trotted off deeper into the forest. **"Fine, we'll stick together then. It's not like I'm already involved in this or anything. This way goes towards the cave."** She called behind her, towards me. I raced after her, glad that I would have a companion.

* * *

The cave leading inside Mt. Coronet was menacing. It was so dark you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face and you'd hear the occasional drip of water that made me jump out of my skin every time. On the ground surrounding my feet was the fog that made its way in from the forest. I could've sworn that cave was haunted and I did not like it one bit.

Noticing my discomfort – more like fear – the Absol decided to try to calm me down. **"You never did tell me your name."** She simply stated, leading the way through the cave for me.

"It's Adrian. Adrian Amante." I answered, jumping once more as a Zubat flew past my head.

**"Bit of a scaredy-skitty, aren't you, Adrian Amante?" **She teased, laughing at my reaction.

"N-no! I'm as tough as nails, mind you!" I huffed. I did have to admit that she was helping me feel a little less frightened, though. "Do you have a name? Or is it just 'Absol'?"

**"Hm? No, I don't have a name."** She revealed. **"Never really had a need for one."**

"Oh, that's kind of sad." I mumbled, "Why don't we give you one, then?"

The Absol looked surprised at that one. **"Y-you want to give me a … name?"** She faltered, receiving a "Yes!" from me in response. She quickly composed herself, **"Well, that's fine, I guess. Think about it as we make our way out of here. See that light ahead? That's the end of this cave."**

I was pleased to finally be almost rid of this place. Absol had picked up the pace out of the cave, so I quickly followed behind, trying my best not to trip over any rocks that were hidden in the fog.

We raced the last few steps out of the cave and exited to be greeted with a bath of warm rays from the sun. I stretched my frozen limbs, trying to get the cold out of them.

**"A human city is just up ahead, past this route. It's huge, so we should be safe there for now."** The Absol mentioned, about to head off in the direction of the city before I stopped her.

"Wait! We should find some water to clean you off in first. Won't we attract a lot of attention in a big city with your side caked in blood like that?" I questioned.

**"I guess you're right."** The Absol agreed, annoyed at the bloodstain that she failed at cleaning off earlier. **"There's a river with fresh water that I've visited before on the way to the city. That should be good for getting the blood off."**

I nodded my head in agreement and followed Absol towards the river. We continued following the route and, sure enough, there it was. A flowing river cut straight through the route with only a bridge allowing access to the other side. Absol sped off towards the river and jumped right in, much to my surprise. _'I figured she probably wouldn't like water all that much.'_

I made my way over to the river bank and sat down. I planned on getting in and helping her scrub off the water, but I didn't want to get my clothes wet. I took off my black laced-up boots and socks, carefully placing them a safe distance away from the river. Then, I folded up my long, green cargo pants up to my knees, so I could at least get knee-deep into the river, and the sleeves of my black shirt to my elbows. While doing so, I noticed my clothes were dirty, tattered, and torn from running through trees and collapsing buildings. _'I'll need to get some new clothes in the city somehow.'_ I decided, before carefully making my way towards Absol in the river.

"Need any help getting it off?" I asked, not really waiting for an answer as I started to help wash the blood off her snow white fur. While doing so, I looked around absent-mindedly at our surroundings. My attention was soon drawn to a house not too far from the river. It was surrounded with all sorts of beautiful plants and flowers of every shape and color. The colors combined beautifully to create a sort of rainbow, beauty I thought only possible in a painting. What caught my attention the most, though, was the stunning purple of the wisteria plants, hanging down all around the house and garden from their vines. The bright purple colors swirling around the other flowers on their lively green vines reminded me of the sleepy town I grew up in. Mr. Beaston really liked to garden in his spare time and I vividly remember the wisterias he hand growing in his front yard.

"How about 'Wisteria'?" I asked, looking back at the Absol, the stain on her fur almost gone, revealing her scars.

**"What do you mean?"** The Absol asked, concentrating on cleaning her fur.

"I mean, as a name?" I asked again, "Do you like the name 'Wisteria'?"

**"I think it's a very pretty name. I'd like that to be my name." **The Absol, now called Wisteria, replied, seeming to be very happy, **"It's a bit long, though, which might serve as an inconvenience in certain situations."**

"I guess that's true." I pondered, thinking of a way to shorten her name if I needed to, "I guess if the situation called for it, I could call you 'Wist' or 'Wisty'."

Wisteria nodded her head in agreement, happy with her name. We went back to cleaning her fur in a comfortable silence.

The blood was caked on her fur badly. It was actually surprisingly difficult to get off. We stayed in the river for probably a good twenty minutes, scrubbing the blood off of Wisteria's side. When all the blood had been washed out, we crawled out of the river and relaxed in the warm sun so we could dry off. It was still morning, but it was getting closer to noon and I could tell both Wisteria and I were running low on fuel; we needed food.

After drying off, I rolled the sleeves of both my shirt and pants back down and put my socks on. Then, I slipped on my boots, laced them up, and stood up to stretch. "We should probably head to the city now. If we get going now, we'll probably get there by noon."

Wisteria nodded her head in agreement and pushed herself up onto all fours of her giant, black clawed paws. I headed down the route with her trotting beside me. The route was somewhat difficult to walk through, with lots of steep hills to climb up and down and a couple bridges to cross. It didn't take long though and we finally made it to the house with the rainbow-colored yard that I had spotted from the river where we cleaned Wisteria. I was tempted to go over to the house and just marvel at their heavenly garden, but I knew that would be rude and I had other things to take care of first. So, Wisteria and I continued with nothing more than a glance spared for the house.

We had finally made it. Just past the garden house was the city that Wisteria had mentioned. And boy, when she said it was big, she meant _huge_. We entered into the lit-up city – yes, it was lit-up even during the day – and were greeting by a nicely decorated and colorful sign that read 'WELCOME TO HEARTHOME CITY'.

"We'll definitely be safe in this huge city, but we'll be lost, too, Wist." I panicked. I'm used to sleepy towns and quiet forests and I was quickly starting to realize crowded and busy streets in an obnoxiously huge city was not really my thing. Wisteria just simply shrugged her shoulders and urged me forward with a gentle head-butt to my legs. **"It's the only option we've got for now. Let's see if we can find somewhere safe to rest up."**

I nodded my head in understanding. No matter how nervous I was, there was no going back now. So, I headed off into the busy streets, the many people and Pokémon helping Wisteria and I blend in.

* * *

_Yay, the second chapter is up!_

_I hope you guys like the name Wisteria. I had a hard time finding a name for the Absol, but I thought Wisteria would fit. Also, if you have suggestions for any future Pokemon for Adrian's team, I would really appreciate it!_


End file.
